text
stringlengths 15
2.02k
| label
stringclasses 2
values | __index_level_0__
int64 0
9.9k
|
|---|---|---|
Glenn " If you have a home equity loan to help with essentials that used to cost you $95/mo., it is now costing you $375/mo." what? How about real percentages. You are saying interest rates are now 4 times greater? First off you should not be using a home equity loan to pay for essentials- thats not what its for. Secondly, you are grouping 10 different things together. Home ins, health ins, car ins. Interesting rates in the late 70's peaked around 11% and in 1981 when the annual average was 16.63%, according to the Freddie Mac data. Fixed rates declined from there, but they finished the decade around 10%. Were people living, working, buying house in the 70's and 80's? Please. Try living within your means, cook at home, don't buy the latest phone or TV, that $5.00 McFrizzle or whatever fast food poison you like could be cut - which would also make you healthier and happier.
| yes | 8,516 |
This is interesting stuff. This piece tells us that $800 million in goods pass through Laredo between Mexico and the US every day. Then it tells us that trade between the US and Mexico amounts to $660 billion per year. If you do the math in your head, and you have faith in the NYTs reporting, that means that around half of our trade with our second largest trading partner already passes through a city of 250,000. This will be be super interesting to watch.
| yes | 9,627 |
CRL Your acceptance of your sister's decision keeps the door open to your relationship. All the best.
| no | 891 |
MRTom Personally, I like the open primaries. Where the top two candidates (from any party) compete in the general election.Ranked choice voting is not a bad idea either. It seems to work well in Maine and Alaska.
| yes | 5,400 |
Lucky for Kevin he is shameless or else these votes would be embarrassing. As it stands, he will still make the history books but not as he wanted. He will be remembered for feeding, elevating and strengthening the far right to the point where they can obstruct every function the House performs, including opening. There have been many ambitious politicians before him but history will note he was the thirstiest.
| no | 690 |
We need serious investment in climate action; according to a communication last year from NASA's former lead climate scientist James Hansen, we would likely need to spend trillions of dollars per year extracting CO2 from the atmosphere to keep below the 2 degree C ceiling rise in temperature. Critical climate systems are starting to tip and cannot be put back together again. <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2021/NovemberTUpdate+BigClimateShort.23December2021.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2021/NovemberTUpdate+BigClimateShort.23December2021.pdf</a>
| yes | 7,361 |
You can invest 100x that amount in the CIA-and you’d be throwing it down a giant sinkhole. None of the peoples you mentioned offer the US what Israel offers it- access to top notch military industrial and intelligence community in Israel. The US govt doesn’t care about the intellectual issues you care about. It cares and invests in national defense issues, not Arab intelligentsia.
| no | 3,422 |
Over the past twenty years, the US has provided more than $32 billion in direct support to the people of Pakistan. But our investments began well before that.<a href="https://pk.usembassy.gov" target="_blank">https://pk.usembassy.gov</a> › us-assist...U.S. Assistance to Pakistan - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in PakistanWhere is the governments’ accountability protecting its citizens from terrorism?
| no | 2,765 |
I think it's little understood domestically in the US how much corruption is baked into war relief efforts. During my time in Iraq, I handled millions in physical cash for reconstruction projects, microloans, direct cash payouts for damages and claims, payouts at the level of individual people for economic relief, etc, etc. To build a $2M clinic, I would give a local sheik $20,000 in kickbacks to mobilize his community to do the work, I gave a dentist a $5,000 loan so she could start her practice up again and gave the owner of the building her practice was in another $1,000 to agree to provide her with electricity and water. It's part of the bargain with giving aid and when you think about it, it makes sense, but becomes increasingly unpalatable the farther you go up the food chain. Corruption is often deceitful, but sometimes it's about disrupted lives and people trying to put them back together. That building owner wasn't a bad person, he had just had his life ripped apart by armed conflict and was doing anything he could to make do for his family. That sheik didn't pocket all of that $20,000, he distributed a lot of it to the people in his community to buy them food and homes. I hope this doesn't come across as an excuse, but corruption should not be viewed as a reason to not give aid.
| yes | 5,943 |
Initially I though some developing countries with deep (and often confrontational) ties with China, e.g. India must be in the list. But then I realized that why should the Chinese spend so much money to keep such outposts with its own full time employees when they can easy buy almost any information by bribing some politicians, bureaucrats, and business at a much cheaper price or simply by blackmailing them!
| no | 1,783 |
You can tell anyone who doesn't call this a disingenuous hit piece didn't read it. This 516m dollars is funny money. It's not real. Right now that land is garbage and has no prospects whatsoever. It's been that way for a generation. This is going to create an entire new neighborhood in Queens on the soccer team's dime on NYC's land (not the team's land).
| no | 3,633 |
Bomb the cartels. 100k poisoned to death last year. If Al Qaeda killed 5k we would spend trillions going to war. But on this we do nothing.
| no | 4,214 |
ansuwanee They certainly do do a lot for society but prefer to keep in quiet, it only gets reported when someone from the relevant group being visited leaks it to the press.The Duchy of Cornwall raises over 100 million UK pounds for charity each year.King Charles’s ideas were fundamental to the creation of a 540-acre town & residential development in southwestern England that was started in 2013 & will eventually house 4,000 people. It was built according to his housing philosophies, which emphasize sustainability and walkability""Charles was an early advocate for organic farming & many credit him with helping it take off in Britain. In 1990, he launched Duchy Originals, a line of food and drinks, which he grew into the UK’s top organic food brand. Charles’s very vocal support of organic farming angered many early on, but it has proven to be one of his greatest successes."
| yes | 5,802 |
alex While I, as a liberal, totally condone investigating this matter to its fullest extent, the two situations appear to be vastly different as far as their discoveries and handling of them (Trump apparently obstructing justice). And as far as politically motivated investigations against Trump, I agree with you. Those who want a fair democracy and are politically invested in that want to hold Trump accountable. And as a supporter of a fair democracy, I say more power to them.
| no | 1,658 |
You can tell who the conservatives are on this thread by their complaining about imagined inefficiencies or waste in infrastructure spending, yet they most likely didn’t challenge a $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthiest in the last administration. They imagine somehow that the rich are either entitled to it or would spend their windfall more efficiently, but in reality they usually bank it which doesn’t stimulate the economy or create jobs. Rather, tax cuts prompt cynical politicians to demand cuts to the social safety net which creates a drag on the economy. Whatever inefficiencies result from infrastructure spending will be more than offset by a multiplier effect, meaning not only will the productive capacity of the economy expand, encouraging more growth, those hard hats doing the work will spend their money on cars, trucks, meals out, etc. In addition, that spending on upgrading the grid, water and sanitation systems, and roads and bridges never would’ve taken place because the private sector either can’t or won’t make those investments. The cherry on top is that the markets are begging for this spending.
| no | 4,625 |
My favorite is “Head for Backstage Pass” on the Wired album. Beck just buries his guitar in its own electricity at the end of this hyper cool instrumental. When I first saw him live in ‘76 on the Wired tour, his opening act was Lynyrd Skynyrd, who were tremendous (hard to top live Freebird), but Beck still soared above them that night. My ears rang for 3 days but it was SO WORTH IT!
| yes | 6,155 |
B but how does it hurt to have that information out? It helps people know when they are underpaid. It helps the high fliers see that they are indeed getting a lot of money. I work for the state. In my position the range of salarites goes from $90k to $500k. This is all published. It lets us know what we could get if we exceled. How does it hurt to have this public? It does not stop the state at all from rewarding the high fliers.
| yes | 7,390 |
Selecting Thruway rest stop restaurants that will not open on Sunday is, imho, one of the stupidest choices I have ever seen. I know that the Thruway Authority did not select the restaurants, but they did create the terms of reference to select the contractor.By the way, Shake Shack’s and Chick fil A’s food is not much healthier than MacDonalds’. It just costs more and take’s longer to get.
| yes | 5,504 |
If you look at the numbers it is almost impossible for anyone to save enough to retire comfortably. Some very lucky people hit the markets just right and do well, most don't and others lose everything in the markets. You will never get there with money in a savings account. The people in article saving much have pretty high salaries to being with, well over the US average of $50k. Too bad the NYT has bought into the narrative that failing to save is a moral shortcoming and that savings is a replacement for what many people had in the past: a pension. Eliminating pensions is another example of corporate greed.
| no | 4,896 |
Using Google Maps, the section of rail that goes over the bay is about a mile long with perhaps another 2 miles on one side and 1/2 on the other, $20 million could have a pretty nice bike/walking trail. I realize that it's not easy but ....
| yes | 6,396 |
That’s actually not true. It’s been proven again and again that the FBI opened the investigation into Trump and Russia before they were given the dossier, and they didn’t even make the investigation public until after trump won. The accusation that Clinton colluded with the FBI via the dossier to hurt Trump in the campaign has zero merit. The timeline doesn’t add up, what they did doesn’t add up, and after 4 years of investigation they don’t even have a single witness or even hearsay or even a name of a person who worked for Clinton or who worked at the FBI who were working together to “take trump down.”
| no | 1,780 |
It always seemed to me that American wine industry faces a two-fold problem. One, how to make wine approachable to new drinkers given that Americans, unlike other cultures, don't typically grow up with wine. Wine has a lot of breadth and depth in the choices, and it can be overwhelming at first. Plus, often the introduction are the mass produced supermarket wines can be a turn off to developing a palate for good wine. At restaurants the wine selection is often very limited and mark-up on even low quality wines is quite high. There usually isn't a lot of support/education when ordering--easier to just order vodka, rum or bourbon where you know what you're getting and they can be mixed to make them palatable. Lots of room for fun, educational and cultured marketing strategies.Two, the industry doesn't seem to maximize the market of people who enjoy quality wine, drink responsibly with meals, and have refined palates but don't want to spend $25+/bbl. Europeans do this much better. Good quality approachable wines at prices that make wine a reasonable part of the weekly budget. There is a glut of bad wine in the stores, and accessible wines are a needle in a haystack. This customer--lower returns per bottle perhaps, but a loyal client who is open to new offerings.
| yes | 9,637 |
There is a simple answer to AbbVie and monopolies like Teva Pharmaceutical who buy up every single generic maker and then 10x the price. 50x is what Teva did.Buy Pills like Bullets.Like we do with National Security for Weapons, to provide for the Common Defense, we can do for the Common Welfare.A. FDA is the single purchaser of all drugsB. FDA contracts under DoD FARS rules, competitive bids as either Cost Plus or FFP, Firm Fixed Pricing.C. We taxpayers fund tons of Pharmaceutical research like we fund Weapons research.Benefits- dramatically lower costs. Eliminates drug companies marketing and aiding drug abuse. Total control over dispensing.
| no | 2,963 |
How is it that investors have had access to easy money that the Fed created, while consumers, who support 79% of the American economy, are still stuck with credit cards at 12% to 29% rates that they continually reach for, because their wages alone can't support them? Hmm. How do investors get that 0% money? Banks. Investment banks, the "commercial branch of regular banks. The consumer side of a bank is the old savings and loan model. You put money in, get a return of say 3 to 5%, that the bank pays you by loaning the money out at say 6 to 10%, the difference of which pays the banks bills and creates profits for them. Not bad, everybody made 3 to 5% and went home happy. Not anymore. While commercial banks were enjoying Fed fund rates of 0%, they decided they would stop paying interest to consumer deposits and raise lending rates on everything except mortgages. On the later, they undertook to make risky loans that they would sell in bundles after they collected the profitable fees, which of course led to the financial collapse and government bailout known as the great recession. So back to the consumer lending, why doesn't the Fed open the discount window to consumers and small businesses and why don't they force the old model to remain in consumer banking? Hmm. So here is the answer to the big secret: The Fed supports corporate America, Wall Street! And....they still believe in trickle down economics, with as slow a trickle the consumer (The People) can stand
| yes | 5,599 |
Just a few policy priorities will win the left and independents:- Safeguard the solvency and integrity of Social Security and Medicare by raising taxes on the wealthy by 3%. They'd still be paying lower tax rates than in the 90's.- Add hearing/vision/dental coverage to Medicare.- Go all in on education/jobs training for a 21st century workforce. Expand the American Opportunity Tax Credit from $2,500 per year to $10,000, and include Trade Schools/Apprenticeships.- Go all in on our infrastructure and onshoring manufacturing- Go all in on diversifying the energy grid, to reduce dependence on oil.- Make permanent the Child Tax Credit expansion, $3,000 - $3,600 per child.- Comprehensive immigration reform, including border security.
| yes | 7,585 |
Wow! One point six million. They’ll have to replenish the coffee fund.
| yes | 7,900 |
Good column.Biden needs to be ready to deal with Republican blackmail in House to raise the debt ceiling and to pass a budget.Legal scholars have indicated that the Antideficiency Act on a debt ceiling violates the 14th Amendment in Constitution that plainly says debt must be paid. Biden should simply say that he will continue to pay the debt even if the debt law is not changed because the Constitution mandates this. President must obey the Constitution.Biden should say to Repubs that if they want to cut the deficit than taxes will have to be raised, and the IRS funded even more to get more tax revenues. Maybe Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk could start paying taxes? Maybe the billionaire Wall Street investors could pay the same income tax rate as the rest of us?Social Security and Medicare taxes could be imposed on income above $150,000 a year. Medicare and Medicaid could negotiate to bring down pharma prices and save hundreds of billions of dollars.
| no | 3,412 |
Abraham quisling Sure, save your $5k for when drought wipe out out food crops. You can always eat the dollar bills. I hear they're quite tasty.
| yes | 7,684 |
I've able to hold it together, mostly, until Kai Ryssdal on Marketplace played the opening salvo of "Wooden Ships." No comment or context or warning. Just, wham.
| yes | 6,498 |
This know-nothing nihilist shouldn't be in Congress, he should be in prison with his buddy who received 11 years for the same crimes Gaetz committed!But Gaetz is connected. Daddy is rich and influential in Florida. Rich & connected = get out of jail free card.NYT - please, when discussing Gaetz, begin each story with the criminal activity he's accused of. The same criminal activity that's landed his co-criminal partner in prison.
| yes | 5,091 |
MSF And while I'm talking about what I believe to be deliberate or at least not likely to change, "How many words can you make with 7 letters?" is, I believe, a signature detail of Spelling Bee that isn't open to negotiation, as inconvenient and misleading as it is. There's an image of Sam somewhere on Twitter posing with a throw pillow that has that question written on it. But if Peregrene wants to take on a project that compensates for that, and assuming they also have no plans to change or remove other frustrating things like "Think we missed a word?", I would certainly welcome her efforts. As far as what is a bug and what is a feature, on some days the most cynical part of me thinks about a goal of businesses being to attain "increased engagement" online, and how one of the unfortunately best ways to achieve that is through conflict and anger, outrage etc. Just something I think sometimes - a bit depressing and very possibly untrue.
| no | 641 |
Can we take a moment to recognize the $120k salary of the fridge technician at 27 years old- which is one of the higher salaries in your profiles? Our country needs to do a better job of looking beyond the very outdated and inequitable “college for all” mentality and provide equal resources, policy and giuidance toward careers that may not require a 4-year degree. And not just those in the trades (which is also an antiquated idea). There are many careers spanning the range from trades to health care to tech and beyond that don’t require a college degree. While we don’t know whether Freddy went to college, has a degree, etc. (I’d love to hear more of his story!) the truth that our country inequitably and erroneously prioritizes college degrees as the pathway toward economic mobility is harmful.
| yes | 5,808 |
EFh Productivity increased for the last forty years have been the consequence of companies investing in labor saving devices, not because workers are working harder or more hours.Income inequality declined under Trump and increased under Obama and now Biden. Progressive policy is indistinguishable from socialism, where those who have appointed themselves the ruling elite skim off substantial largesse for themselves, causing consumers to pay more for less.
| yes | 9,613 |
Ricard Peircè The investigation of the Trump Foundation discovered that Trump operated it through "a shocking pattern of criminality." The final case documents include a rap sheet of the financial crimes Trump committed through his foundation. Trump had to pay a $2 million penalty. Trump was barred from working for tax exempt organizations.The Trump Foundation was legally compelled to close.Because Trump was laundering money through a tax exempt organization, and using it for his private businesses, tax free, Trump was stealing from tax payers.The investigation produced very good results. It was absolutely worthwhile. And conversely, leaving Trump to continue committing crimes through the Trump Foundation would have been unthinkable.
| yes | 9,549 |
My father, Albert Taborn, was an extremely productive Black home builder in Cleveland, OH in the 1950s. In 1949, dad was the first president of CAREB (the Cleveland chapter of NAREB which is mention in this article). His company, Taborn Realty literally built hundreds of homes (yearly) for first time Black home buyers. Unlike most white realtors, dad accepted the war bonds from former Black servicemen for a win-win situation. Tragically, the story told in this article is nothing new. Although most of his homes were sold to Blacks, my father was open to selling to any interested buyers but he had to hire white salesmen to show his homes if the potential buyer was white. Home ownership is one of, if not the main way to gain access to wealth in the U.S. and many Black Americans have been restricted from this option leading to lives of struggle or even destitution. Thanks for the article. I hope it creates better understanding and compassion for those struggling with homelessness or caught in a never ending cycle of paying higher and higher rent
| yes | 5,584 |
There is more. Santos is a cofounder of Redstone Strategies with Jayson Benoit. However, one of the authorized managers is Devolder Organization (another Florida LLC) with a Queens address. As you might expect (Santos being Santos), Devolder is not licensed to do business in New York State. The entity is unknown to the NYS Department of State, Division of Corporations. The fine at this point is $10,200. "Such person may also be subject to the criminal penalties provided by section 1817 of the Tax Law." I have a hypothesis regarding where that $750,000 campaign loan came from. It is quite possibly money that he stole from the campaign through questionable expenses that he then loaned back to the campaign. It's kind of reverse money-laundering.My guess is that Santos has no money and never had any money. Certainly not that kind of money.
| yes | 6,202 |
You dont want to be lectured? How typical of the younger gen. Cause you know everything, right? Your experiences are completely different than the Oldz in your life. Lol! Hubris is your problem, not the lack of cash. I wish I got more lectures on savings, credit and other financial instruments. I wish a learned adult had taken me aside and told me the ABC's, or got me to go to someone for help. Regretfully, I didn't, and its been difficult recovering from some rough times, some of which involved health related, unemployment episodes. So here's some advice. Find a means to make sure some of your income is automatically deducted (pre tax if possible), before you see it. 401K if employed and its offered, or some other direct deposits, that take the decision making out of your hands, and squirrels it away where you cant touch it till maturity of the instrument and yourself.If you think you can make the best choices, and properly channel those small increments - FYI...you wont! Because you will always find another thing to spend it on, or bill to pay. You have to take the money out of your sight, and out of your control. Of course this means you "take-home" less, have less in-pocket from each pay period, but that's the tough-luck part. This means you live even tighter on 5-10% less each pay period, but you'll adjust. We all do. You have to channel the money away before its in your hands. Its the only way to save and invest. Period. The change jar is not enough.
| yes | 8,620 |
This is shameless greed on the part of AbbVie. Our patent system needs a broad overhaul so that companies can no longer engage in this kind of price gouging. There's a false argument floating around that if companies can't endlessly exploit the American market, they'll stop investing in new drugs. This is nonsense. Companies need to recover their costs and make a reasonable profit, as they do in every other market around the world. They don't need to make obscene profits on the American market.These drug companies are draining the Medicare trust fund and dramatically raising the costs to taxpayers of subsidizing employer-based insurance. Fortunately, the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act last year, which will allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time, beginning in 2025. However, the rollout of those negotiations will be slow (10 drugs will be negotiated in 2025, 15 the year after), and in the meantime Medicare will be covering any amount over $2,000 annually for Medicare recipients. Meanwhile, there's no relief for Americans enrolled in ACA plans, or for the American taxpayer paying for employer-provided insurance.
| yes | 9,743 |
Capitalism is working fine in America. If someone has a better idea, they should put it to work and make money from it.What we are seeing is an increase in communist and socialist solutions to problems where the government and regulations expand, strangling competitive diversity.What we need is for more demographic groups that vote for Democrats to remove their self created glass ceilings. Instead of advocating that someone else does it, or offering to vote for someone who will use the government to do it, they need to see that they have the power to do it themselves.This artificially created paradigm of the bottom looking up is a self created glass ceiling. Women are less than 10% of the Fortune 500 CEOs, while Black people are one percent. We need the help.It's time for demographic groups that vote for Democrats to stop seeing themselves as powerless cheerleaders and instead as empowered individuals with billion-dollar ideas. As a result of systemic misandry, white men are being driven to do all of the most important work, with the rest of the people seeing themselves as little more than couch commentators.
| yes | 7,212 |
AJS So far, the USA has given Ukraine about 54 billion, and has pledged another 45 billion. That is not "hundreds of billions", and this aid is not a charitable gift to Ukraine, it is an investment in the future of the world.<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/12/27/how-much-money-has-the-west-spent-on-the-ukraine-war" target="_blank">https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/12/27/how-much-money-has-the-west-spent-on-the-ukraine-war</a>
| no | 532 |
This liberal Democrat agrees wholeheartedly with Dr. Sweet. We have to have the courage to speak our truths, but academic freedom and freedom of expression is becoming more and more victim to voices that cry racism and discomfort when they are exposed to opinions and yes, even facts, that do not mesh with their own. History must be told from many perspectives, but we mustn't quash the voices of past historians who obviously could not/did not share our wokeness. How can students be so sure of their stances when they are too PC/woke to even listen to people who disagree with them? We need honest open debate and true freedom of expression. If we do not study the past, we are doomed to repeat it.
| no | 3,230 |
"House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has cited reducing the national debt — which topped $31 trillion last year and has increased during both Republican and Democratic administrations — as a central focus of his agenda."It is impossible to reduce the debt without a surplus in the budget. Somebody needs to learn math. We won't get to a surplus this year, that's for sure.
| yes | 5,607 |
Medicare helps regular people so of course the Republicans are against it. They are far more interested in catering to their corporate masters with $1.5 trillion tax cuts for millionaires. How and why regular folks continue to be fooled by this front group for the super-rich is astonishing.
| yes | 7,741 |
I predate B & N and Amazon by decades. They feel but upstarts, too corporate, even now. Yet I remain grateful to bookstores still alive. My lifelong romance has turned out not with any human but rather, the loves discovered within my cherished books. As a child, the town library became my personal sanctuary. More home than my own and where I read every animal book several times over. Farley Mowat. Anna Sewell. Walter Farley. Rudyard Kipling. Jack London. Black Beauty...my bible. These many years later, a large stable here houses beloved rescued horses. As well, a stately old farmhouse to house inanimate friends. Rescued books. Many discarded, to my dismay. Found stuffed into overflowing cartons on street corners at the semester's end. Purchased from corner bookstores, libraries, and yard sales. Each a treasure. I am incapable of discarding these lifelong friends. Safe now, they appear everywhere. In random style, in every room. On every side table, main table, bookshelf, sideshelf, mantle and most chairs. Bedside, fireside. I intend to reread each again, unable to part with this one or that one. In my defense, I did adopt out a lifetime of periodicals. The dignified hardcovers and paperback cousins remain. They sit quietly, awaiting their turn to be opened once again, to be of service, offering up theories, discoveries, secrets, poetry, other-worldliness. I cannot betray them. This mighty legion of library clutter will surely remain until my death.
| no | 264 |
BK This 25+ year New Yorker has never, ever made over 75K in a year.Maybe it's people like me who aren't 'the right sort' to live here....or is it just more Google tech workers with obscenely overpaid positions skewing the numbers?
| yes | 5,524 |
Microsoft to Lay Off 10,000 Workers as It Looks to Trim Costs The job cuts, which amount to less than 5 percent of the company’s work force, are its largest in roughly eight years. Microsoft on Wednesday became the latest addition to a growing list of big technology companies that have announced plans to lay off employees because of overhiring during the pandemic and worries about the economy. The job cuts, which amount to less than 5 percent of the company’s work force, are its largest in roughly eight years.
| yes | 7,910 |
These people! Look, far be it from me to criticize anyone for doing things to look good. I certainly do, everything from exercise to using a variety of face creams of questionable efficacy. But my life is so far removed from spending $1,000 per month (into perpetuity, perhaps) to stay thin, followed by spending $75,000 on a "deep-plane facelift" to counteract the consequences of the monthly $1,000 outlay, that I can only laugh. Good on you if you feel and look great, but somewhere in my depths - underneath all of my own shallow concerns - I do feel a twinge of concern that we as a society have gone very profoundly wrong somehow.
| no | 1,795 |
The national debt went up ~9.5 trillion from 2017 - 2020. COVID and the resulting recession can account for less than half of that increase. Can you say "hypocrisy"? I knew you could!
| yes | 9,580 |
GustofWind - Thank you for sharing a bit about Panpsychism. I can well imagine the scientists who dominate this article dismissing it as "New Age mysticism". Yet they have no firm evidence that their mechanistic approach is any more valid when it comes to capturing the elusive spark of consciousness.My intuition and my chosen religion the Baha'i Faith lead me to anticipate that it will require a genuine meeting of minds between people committed to material neuroscience and AI, and to those equally committed to spiritual concepts like panpsychism. This blending of Substance and Spirit is a vital part of humanity's journey toward unity and maturity. Only success in this journey will assure us all of an open-ended future that is positive and healthy for humans, animals, and very likely conscious machines.
| yes | 6,345 |
Pilot People often opine that we need smaller gov, less regulation when the complete opposite is required. The reason that gov doesn't work is not the fault of the concept, rather, it's because industry lobbyists own and operate the campaign process and insert their PEOPLE to run for government. Citizen's United opened the lobbyist floodgate for money so only those backed by corporations can successfully create a campaign to reach the voters.Reverse Citizen's United, reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, and government will work as planned.
| yes | 9,514 |
Despite the billions spent on diets, exercise, and supplements, Americans are unhealthy. More than half of adults 65+ are taking 4+ prescriptions. We are led to believe that external interventions will make us healthy or extend our lives. Too little emphasis is placed on personal responsibility to take care of oneself. Just that fact that aging is considered a "problem" is a problem. When people "expect" that they will become infirm, ill, or disabled with age it disempowers them. They don't realize that there is SO much they can do to remain vital...but it takes determination and will. The medical industrial complex fosters dependence with drugs and "easy" solutions to lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Of course these are often necessary and life-saving, but many people I know consider that a "get out of jail" card to resume their bad habits. We don't need to live longer (although that would be nice), we need to live better, longer. Don't rely on medicine alone to make that happen. Take charge of your life and live well.
| yes | 8,865 |
Annette the two years of Democratic Party control was great for America and the legislation they passed was meaningful. Hopefully the Democrats are turning the corner in austerity and will be able to make a material pitch to working class voters to expand their coalition.
| yes | 9,876 |
Andrew With layoff numbers that exceed a year's worth of H1b visas, it does make sense to put a hold on that. The layoffs should include H1b visa holders as well as Americans. The hold should last until the labor market has stabilized and Americans are truly given the first chance at any new openings.
| yes | 9,867 |
Aging use to be an unknown, uncharted country.Because there are so many old and older people, there is a treasure trove of sharing going on. While not every old person has wisdom, some do in spades.This article highlights one among legion. Still, only 10% over 65. Yet, a larger number than ever.Soon to be 84, I aim for a daily triathlon: 20 minutes each, walking, biking, swimming.In old age, the big event on the horizon is the arrival of the death bus. We have to fill in the time. How we do it is up to us to tailor.There is chronic pain in life but not chronic pleasure.Do you have the address of a chronic pleasure clinic?While pain often seeks us out despite best efforts,we have to purposefully seek the pleasure.As the day has its daily tasks, my evenings are for the pursuit of high pleasure. And the portal for that primarily comes in form of edible hemp/cannabis-laced gummies which opens up the five senses to heightened pleasures. Evening are euphoric. Music, colored lights, food, wine and bodily pleasures are all intensified. A kind of self-created heaven. Even the trauma and tragedies of life and the world are less disturbing, strangely. In mellowland pleasure is more experienced than pain for some unknown grace.But then again I am able to create this reverie because I am not in Ukraine and similar spots where the evening's pursuit of pleasure would indeed be challenging.
| yes | 9,625 |
How frustrating is THIS??An old man pays "$2 million in taxes, penalties and interest" and is sent to Rikers, while the Trump organization, "found guilty on all 17 counts of tax fraud and other financial crimes," MAY pay UP TO $1.6 million. When will it finally be Trump who serves the time?There must be something he has done, many things he has done, that are worth 100 days at Rikers.
| yes | 5,701 |
I applaud the public central role of staircases for health and environmental reasons. In too many buildings, including the one I work, staircases are utilitarian, dirty, and hidden behind doors, encouraging over-crowding on elevators and discouraging exercise. A relative's recent hospital stay was frustrating in terms of exercise and Covid safety because I couldn't enter her floor from the stairwell without a staff key pass, so I was forced to take the elevator. But "network stair" implies that people with physical disabilities and mobility limitations (whether lifelong or due to aging, accidents, illness) don't merit the same networking opportunities as everyone else. I find this odd for a building that is intended to promote the social good. The many stairs certainly are not practical for people who must use roller bags for books and laptops instead of backpacks to save our aching backs. Incorporating large comfortable elevators would have been more inclusive. Finally, how is it inclusive if only open to people formally affiliated with the school. I'd love to explore those staircases and see those views, but its presumably not accessible (in all meanings of the word) to the public.
| no | 4,693 |
I have never understood why seeing fellow humans crushed and maimed, sometimes crippled for life, as a form of entertainment. But this is what we crave, and what we get in countless movies and television shows, where ratings rise as violence gets more extreme. So what could be more thrilling than the next step: Actually being there - real people, real time - to be part of the tribal mayhem. Recently, we have added a new drug: Online betting, which is now legal in many states. On Thanksgiving, I sat on the sidelines watching my 20-ish grandkids in front of a giant TV showing an NFL game, cell phones in hand, placing bets, cheering and groaning, boasting about how much money they were making. Wow, a marriage of two dangerous addictions: football and gambling, now available in your own home! I'm not sure there's much we can do, but I applaud parents who won't let their kids play football. And I'm thinking of investing in rehab centers for the addicts now masquerading as sports fans.
| no | 409 |
Indian education system is pathetic to say the least since India became free. So-called elites institutes like IITs, IIMs etc are no exception. IITs were developed by the US Govt (on request from India's 1st PM, Nehru) on the model of MIT.Al these so-called elite institutes including IITs in India are "good" only for rote memorization in undergrad teaching. It's very poor, even in Indian standard, in terms of its ability to engage in original research which is & shd be the main parameter to judge quality of education f any institute/nation. Most (>80%) IIT students r form rich families & determined to come to the US/West irrespective what school/institute they attend. US Govt supported that model mainly to supply cheap workers/Engineers for post-WW2 industrial surge in the US without wasting American money to groom them. Vast majority, >90%, of IIT graduates who come to the US came as a masters student in the US and not with any job.Public education in India is systematically destroyed- more since 1990s. Indian education is now mostly controlled by private criminals (businessmen/ & politicians.) Education sector now generates most black money than any other sector. The owner of India's "most successful" private university (Amity Univ.) has at least 3 red corner notices by Interpol (source Forbes) and he want(ed) to open franchise in the US among other western nations. No wonder India ranked last in PISA score among 75 odd nations that evaluate young school students.
| yes | 8,949 |
"She Made History as a Black Basketball Star. Why Won’t Her College Name Its Arena for Her?"Ummm --Because the college is waiting for a wealthy alumnus or businessperson to come up with a two or three-million-dollar donation - so they can name the arena after that person -That's how these things work...
| yes | 6,959 |
Michael Czarnomski Yes, more or less. CA has is a 'modified open primary' and a top-two system.(Note that the POTUS election is not.)THE problem is one party having multiple candidates for one office splits/dilutes the votes. There are six(6) political parties in CA that can have candidates on the ballots. So it is entirely possible that the opposite could occur and neither Democrat would proceed. ...
| yes | 9,148 |
I urge Janet Yellen to not listen to Wall Street.America can default on ALL of its debts and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Why? Because America (the American taxpayer) spends more on defense than the next 6 countries combined. America is the sole, last line of defense for every country on earth. I understand, America must pay its debts. Let’s track down the $4 trillion that is hidden in offshore accounts first.Ms. Yellen, Wall Street makes obscene profits. Please protect the American taxpayer.
| no | 662 |
As a student in Nairobi almost 40 years ago, we were taken to the Kibera slum. The story is nice, but how is it acceptable that slums like this still even exist? With the proliferation of billionaire superyachts, costing $200K a week to operate, there's something very wrong.
| yes | 8,567 |
suejean I approach Wordle with the mindset that it is much like poker (which I confess I do not play): skill is involved, certainly, but there will always be an element of luck. What do you do when there are two turns left, and you can think of three equally likely words which would fit?Wordle has become part of of workday lunch-hour routine (I try to do the crossword either before or after work), with the result that I frequently just forget to do it on days off, and break my streak that way. I always play the same opening word, which *I know* will come up as a hole-in-one someday, and I always fear that it will, but on a day I skip.
| no | 4,361 |
Sue Yes! The smug, know-it-all attitude displayed in this "myth" mirrors the public health establishment's attitude towards "lay" public. (It is interesting to note how the use of the word "lay" to describe those who are not health care professionals refers directly to the attitude of the medieval papacy towards the suckers in Germany to whom they sold indulgences. Ah, but the sale of those indulgences did help to finance the building of St. Peter's basilica. So there's that.) This is the kind of stuff that gives Trump and his acolytes an opening when they trash the government. It informs the failure of CDC to give consistent advice about COVID and the pandemic.
| no | 218 |
Lyndsey Marie Shanley I've been telling friends who have been complaining about egg prices to go to Aldis! They were around $3. a dozen the other day. They also have excellent inexpensive (by comparison to other major groceries) produce prices.
| yes | 6,628 |
Placing this here:<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/technology/microsoft-openai-chatgpt.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/technology/microsoft-openai-chatgpt.html</a>
| no | 2,936 |
The dark comedy that is being played out in the House for the past three days is what we as a nation deserve to watch. Boebert won by a margin of 586 votes. This means many Democrats did not come out to vote for Frisch. The people who chose her what was their rationale, except that she is a consummate gun advocate and able to disrupt everything without a plan. We ought to forgive her ignominiousness as she is really ill prepared as her knowledge base seems shallow. Boebert is not alone. Jordan the wrestling coach is now wrestling with our system of government. A very large part of our population has become cynical about our institutions and have lost faith in them. Erosion of public trust has taken place as our politics is now driven by money, not by ideas, policies and service excellence. From the day one, the elected officials only concern is their campaign coffer. The media is indirect partner in this cabal as it gets enriched from the campaign funds. The Supreme Court even greased the way through its Citizens United verdict. American Democracy is fast becoming a thing of the past.
| no | 416 |
Where's Biden? If he's going to drag the country into WWIII then he needs to be frank with the American people about what the goals, costs, and endgame are going to be. So far it seems like he has spent 70% of his presidency in hiding. And where is the press for that matter? Biden just runs away from reporters. If he is too scared to answer questions he has no business being president. If this was Trump effectively declaring war on a nuclear power you would all be going berserk. Stop giving Biden a pass. He's a criminal just like Trump; it's way past time to stop treating him with kid glove while he just escalates the war further and further and further. Why are you letting him get away with this?
| yes | 7,776 |
A building will not change the current attitude that rapacious capitalism is good. What is needed is a rejection of the teachings of Friedman economics that gave license for shareholders to demand more and more for them and nothing for anyone else, including workers and consumers. The CEO and top management bonus system also needs an overhaul, if not outright elimination. It has always amazed me that wealthy investors believe that top executives who are already being paid enormous salaries need additional financial incentives to do their jobs well while average workers are expected not only to do their jobs well but often to go above and beyond their jobs to help a business deliver profits for shareholders. Why do CEOs need bonuses to guarantee their performance when workers do not? Are CEOs less interested in doing a good job? As a retired senior corporate executive, I have benefitted from the bonus system, but I also came to see how it corrupts business decisions and causes CEOs to make decisions for short-term gains instead of improving a company for the long term. Southwest Airlines just exemplified this attitude that put dividends and bonuses over investment in operational capability. Stock buybacks need to be illegal again, and if bonuses are given to management, then the employees who delivered the profits for those bonuses also need to share in bonuses. That’s the only fair thing to do, and it would help raise worker pay that has fallen behind.
| yes | 7,417 |
Well, these people can collect unemployment for awhile, take a break, and then I am sure, their skills are very marketable so they will be able to find even better jobs. If I was hiring and someone worked at Microsoft, I'm sure that would bump them to the top of the list. They will be fine.
| yes | 9,777 |
The author's definition of grits - milled dent (i.e., mature/hard) corn - isn't strictly accurate. To quote Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" - now available on Kindle for $9.99 :"Dry-milled [corn] products are ground directly from the stored grain... These days they’re generally refined to exclude the hull and germ, an innovation from around 1900 that made large-scale milling practical. "The rarer whole-grain cornmeal and flour, sometimes ground between stone wheels, are richer in fiber, flavor, and nutrients, but also stale rapidly thanks to the oils and related substances in the germ, which become oxidized on contact with air."Grits are relatively coarse corn endosperm particles between 0.6 and 1.2 mm across."A variant, hominy grits, uses an intermediate process - nixtamalization, developed by Native Americans. The kernels are boiled in a calcium hydroxide solution, then dried. This process is also used to make masa harina for corn tortillas. Nixtamalization has several benefits: *Increased flavor + nutrition: niacin (Vit B3) is released from the cell walls. Pellagra - niacin deficiency- was common in Africa, where the local farmers had been introduced to corn (but not nixtamalization) by the Portuguese, * After milling, the dough holds together like wheat dough, though it lacks gluten, making tortillas possible. By contrast, dough made from plain cornmeal without sufficient added wheat flour falls apart.
| no | 715 |
Anesthesiology “isn’t intellectually stimulating”?? Sounds like you don’t know squat about anesthesiology. My practice involves taking care of patients from infancy to very old age with a variety of medical conditions. We do nerve blocks for post op pain, epidurals for childbirth if requested by the patient as well as general anesthetics for a variety surgical procedures. I have given anesthesia to a very ill unstable patient for an open heart in the morning and then done anesthesia for an ACL repair on a healthy 18 y.o. in the afternoon. Continuing medical education is required to keep my license and my certification. Vigilance is required when delivering an anesthetic of any sort from mild sedation to a general anesthetic. This anesthesiologist failed miserably at his job.
| no | 3,164 |
So a middle class family that makes $165K takes home after taxes, social security and medicare, and property taxes takes home $10,000 a month. One has a chronic illness so after premiums, copays, deductibles, and out of pocket charges, they pay around $1,700 a month in healthcare. $2,000 a month for childcare and after school care for a 3 year old and 6 year old. This is EVERY daycare in a 45 minute commute radius - remember they both work. Now let's layer on a $1,700 a month mortgage and this is because they got a less than 3% interest rate. If they move, their mortgage will more like $3,000 because of rising interest rates. Now let's shell out $2,000 a month for food and this is because they feed their two children and themselves fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats. Let's factor in the price of heating and air and water and upkeep on 2 cars with 100,000 miles on them. So maybe another $500 a month. And how about gas that last year was running them $350 a month? Clothes for the children, repairs for the house and cars? Can you see how they are now down to maybe $1,000 to $2,000 a month left in discretionary income without even saving for college (hundreds of thousands per child) and retirement?Now tell me how a couple (both parents MUST work) making $80,000 or $100,000 is supposed to have children and not go into severe debt just trying to live a healthy life with their kids? Politicians cannot do the math nor can economists.
| no | 3,002 |
The decline in productivity growth registered by the UK is remarkable, obviously not in a good way.Without going into excessive detail, one economic point sticks in my mind: low investment due to uncertainty. The UK shares with the US and Europe, instability due to the pandemic. Check that box. The financial crisis hit both the US and the UK hard, but London’s financial community was probably hit harder than Wall Street because questionable debt swaps were funnelled to Europe through London. Check that box. Now add Brexit on top of the other two destabilizers. Is it any wonder internal capital formation in the UK has dried up?
| no | 1,219 |
V. Sloan I understand your frustration with those who tout the "good old days," but I personally don't think the relative cost of food has increased as much as housing, transportation, and other necessities. As a college student in the 1980s, I spent $35 weekly on food while living in NYC and today, I spend approximately $50 weekly while living in Ulster Couty. (And I'm still that same frugal vegetarian who understands the value of cooking from scratch.)
| no | 2,908 |
I'm glad to see that so many commenters are pointing out the dangers of overpopulation and the need to change the economic systems that focus on unlimited growth. Some cities in China, like Beijing, are virtually unlivable due to pollution, which is killing over 4 million people a year. In addition, we need to pay more attention to the perspectives on marriage that, as a teacher for 7 years in China, I heard from young Chinese women. We often used marriage as a debate topic in class. I would estimate that while 99% of boys thought of marriage as a wonderful way of being taken care of, for the rest of their lives, some 85% of the female students stated that they didn't want to get married or have children. They preferred to make their own money and have more freedom. Some of them pointed out that there is now a law in China that states if only one person in a marriage wants a divorce, the other partner must stay with them for another 6 months to a year to see if things will improve.As is pointed out in the article, much of the work of raising children falls to the lot of the mother, or in many cases, the grandmother. I'm amazed that the abuses of patriarchal societies are so often overlooked in discussing issues like this.
| yes | 8,099 |
Some of the encounters which are depicted as being confrontations are not, I would suspect.For example, the opossum is not confronting the deer. When opossums are threatened (or startled; and they are timid, meek beings), they may react in what appears to be defensive behavior. But they are essentially defenseless. When an opossum opens their mouth, humans find it frightening because all of the opossum’s teeth are the same size. That’s it. More often, if an opossum feels very threatened, they will “play possum” which essentially means they have fainted from fear.
| yes | 5,807 |
We let Bannon and Trump get away with open calls for both violence and fraud here. It’s not even a crime here to call for insurrection abroad. The risks continue to accumulate as DOJ continues to play “ hot potato “ with enforcement of our laws.
| yes | 8,356 |
Part IIFO• A FO(4) is a baby horse.• He was a FO(4) for love, which he proved by marrying ten women, two of them twice.GA• In the movies Pony Express riders ride at a full out GA(6). In reality, they probably alternated between a lope, a trot, and a walk, depending on the terrain.• She loved to watch dancers sweeping past her in a lively GA(5), a ballroom dance in duple time popular in the 18th century. GL• GL(5) is defined in several sources as “a thick, sticky fluid or substance” and spelled with five letters. I am more accustomed to a similar word spelled with four letters: GL(4). Type both words into today’s SB as this is a two-fer hint.GO• The American football referee raised both arms upright in the air, indicating the team had successfully scored a GO(4).• GO(6) is to stare with wide open eyes at something, usually in surprise or bewilderment.• Many people attribute “GO(4) is a good walk ruined” to Mark Twain, but it was American novelist Harry Leon Wilson who said it in 1904.• The teacher admonished the boys to stop GO(4)ing off and finish their essay.• If in doubt and hints don’t help, then think, think, think again. Or go online and ask Dr. GO(6).• A GO(6) is the number “1” followed by a hundred zeros.• Have you ever used the multipurpose organic cleanser called GO(4) to remove grease or stains? It’s sold in a bright orange bottle and is quite effective.
| yes | 8,729 |
From my experience, the Uniqlo stretch cotton blouse (75% cotton, 23% poly, 2% elastane) is the holy grail of white shirts. Machine washable, doesn't wrinkle, crisp yet lustrous, and non shiny after years of wear, deliciously comfortable, and reasonably priced (under $50).
| no | 3,623 |
This is yet another p.r. article for the rulers to give your hard earned money to the capitalists, in this case chip makers.The Semiconductor Industry Association hints at 277,000 new employees. But, the article won't cite an economist saying this would reduce unemployment. If their giveaway was expanded ten times to include other industries, would this reduce unemployment by 2,770,000 workers?Like the excessive military budgets for enriching capitalists, far in excess of that needed to protect America; such expenditures reveal that Americans are horribly and unfairly taxed, yet the rulers won't give you an easy way to opt out.
| yes | 5,880 |
Tournachonadar Our system actual goes only back to 1948 and the Conseil National de la Resistance. We're not missing much to reach equilibrium, 10 billion a years. There is several ways to find those: make the people pay, or make their employers pays. I'm partial to the second. And yes, cake is delicious. Even more here.
| yes | 8,401 |
I think I have a revolutionary idea. There are places that have large open fields with swings, bars sandlots and grass. Basketball courts and volleyball courts. Maybe those areas can be used foe recreation.
| no | 865 |
Mark It's art..... and it is amazing.. and thrilling..and instead of boo hoo hoo.. applaud it.. Most of us won't afford a 40 Million or even a 4k painting.. but a 400$ artistic dinner.. Why NOT.. and it's chemsitry..I just wish the luxury tax was back in existence. 10% Federal tax on the unnecessaries.. we had it int the '50s and I paid a dime on the 1$ pin I bought mom for Mother's Day. Now the billionaires and their ilk the so called investors IMO call them the exploiters the users -- having other people make them $$ -- . John Q has to pay tax on his candy and soda and Ciggies -- exorbitant amounts.. but one can buy a 4 mllion $$ painting at auction and avoid paying a single penny in state tax. and these days there is not federal tax.. because the super rich are oh so special... Wake up America..
| yes | 7,233 |
Mr. King, where have you been the last few years? I don't think you've been paying attention.As long as Santos is a reliable ultra right wing vote, he will be welcomed with open arms by that wing of the Republican party. Look at who they've already welcomed.Sure, in 2 years he'll likely be voted out. But until then he'll be welcome.
| yes | 6,033 |
Why Biden is doing this Paul Volcker , at age 91, NY Times InterviewMr. Volcker is no great fan of the president, but he acknowledged that Mr. Trump had cannily recognized the economic worries of blue-collar workers. Mr. Trump “seized upon some issues that the elite had ignored,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question about that, in kind of an erratic way, but there it is.” He wondered how many lectures and presentations he had sat through with economists “telling us open markets are wonderful, everybody benefits from open markets.” ... concern was dismissed too easily, with talk of worker retraining or some other solution far easier said than done. NY Times Oct. 23, 2018 Trump cannily tapped into the resentment of Americanswho saw their jobs moved to ChinaTo win Trump voters, Biden is doing the same: Politics in America, is first of all about winning elections , by 'whatever it takes.' Not about what is good for the country
| yes | 5,244 |
Ithaca Reader and Christopher BiedaThese stats you mention are mere nibbles around the edges. These schools have multibillion dollar endowments and could build anywhere they want, and they should build several new campuses nationwide to keep up with population growth. There are way more talented PhDs than tenured professorships. The limiting of supply is very (very, very) intentional so that the elite schools can appear more elite with lower acceptance rates and stroke graduates' erogenous zones with how amazing and better they are. I went to Cornell myself for undergrad and drank the Kool-Aid. Though the abundant resources were nice, the "I am better" attitude permeates everything. For my MS I went to Michigan State and had a way more enriching, human, interesting experience. Listen to the economics of elite universities on the Freakonomics podcast called "The University of Impossible-to-Get-Into." Presidents of these schools admit that they exist to put on this elite gameshow.
| no | 1,456 |
I was happy to retire from SoCal to Tennessee, where my electricity rates are more than 30% less.My electricity is generated by not-for-profit TVA and delivered to me by my not-for-profit electrical cooperative.I have no complaints.
| yes | 7,054 |
Didn't the GOP just give themselves a raise? 174,000 bucks is not enough. Another 35 grand would cover those commuter expenses and the apartment in Georgetown.
| no | 591 |
As a former cowboy and a graduate of ag school, here's a bit of information for those concerned about animal welfare, cruelty and industrial farming techniques:"Pork" is by far the cruelest meat. Somewhere around 98-99% of hogs in America are raised in hideously cruel confinement, and these animals are as sentient and intelligent as your cat or dog.Most poultry (that's turkey, chicken and, rarely, ducks) is also raised in viciously "efficient" confinement.The dairy industry's cruelty lies mostly in the treatment of mother cows and calves. Calves are separated when extremely young, so that the cow's milk can be collected and sold. Many, though not all, calves are then raised in incredibly cruel confinement as "veal."Beef cattle and sheep are, in terms of confinement, by far the least cruel providers of meat. They are never "factory farmed" and are raised for most of their lives in open pasture. True, at the end of their lives, most go to "feedlots" for fattening, and market timing and while feedlots are not nice places, they are not indoors and animals are not individually confined.I understand the reasoning of those who stop eating "higher" animals (say, cattle or sheep) before eschewing poultry. But gauging strictly on cruelty, you are actually better off eating beef and lamb.None of the above addresses environmental issues, climate change, etc. (though hog farming is arguably the worst environmental offender).
| no | 2,533 |
Getreal High speed rail is great, but as we learned in California, it costs around $100-$250 million per mile just to build the railway and buy the rights of way. Plus equipment, operating and maintenance costs. If we budget $100 billion per year, we could build around 400 to 1000 miles. Let’s do that plus convert our airplanes to electricity and alternate fuels.Maybe we can find a way to also allow freight railway line owners to allow conversion of their rails to high speed, too, which might save some costs.
| yes | 6,384 |
gratedNutmeg Stretching does not involve the creation of open wounds in the body! Yes, many women tear and need stitches. Insane.
| yes | 6,772 |
I encourage all readers to familiarize themselves with the Great Flood of 1862. The parallels are uncanny, and alarming. Following 20 years of drought, the Oregon, California and Nevada were subject to a string of atmospheric river storms that caused nearly 10 feet of rain to fall on california over a 43 day period (some areas received 15+ feet). The end result was massive flooding. The central valley turned into a lake, stretching from north of Sacramento to Bakersfield, and was 30 miles wide and up to 50 feet deep. The flood waters took 5 months (from the start of the storm) to fully recede. The USGS has confirmed, through geologic records, that these storms occur every 150 years or so, with the shortest interval being 51 years. On this timescale, we are overdue. Based on geologic records, the storm of 1605 was 50% more powerful than 1862, but the area was undeveloped so recorded first hand accounts of the extent of the flooding are non-existent. The USGS has dubbed these mega storms "the ARkStorm" (Atmospheric River Storm) and expects one to hit california within 25 years of 2010 (when the report was issued). In their modeling, the lake would encompass all lowlands from Shasta Lake to Bakersfield. All the dams and levees built over the last 200 years will mitigate the flooding for a brief time, but will ultimately prove to exacerbate the flooding when the floodwaters are unable to naturally flow back into rivers when the storm ends.
| yes | 5,254 |
".....whose brewery charges $16 for a four-pack of 19.2-ounce cans."I was in NYC sometime around 2000 and was bemused by the price of beer at at least $5 per GLASS (not by the PINT, by the GLASS, the SERVING glasses everyone thinks are "pints" can't deliver you 16oz of liquid without spilling it).Now I'm wondering how a six-pack (four-19.2 ounce cans is a little more than ONE pack of six-12 ounce cans) came to cost $16? SIXTEEN DOLLARS? $64 dollars a case?
| no | 3,038 |
MS We had insurance then, it just didn’t start contributing to anything until we met our 12jk out of pocket deductible. Even then, novolog was still classified as a tier 1 prescription, our copay was $300. We thought we caught a break when novo nordisk introduced an assistance card capping the max cost at $25 a bottle. Filled her December script and then recieved a letter from our insurer saying that as of Jan 1st they would no longer cover novolog, only humalog. I called the pharmacy to inquire and was told that the benefits manager had worked out a better deal for them for humalog. Johnson & Johnson, the manufacturer of humalog did not offer an assistance card at that point. We went straight back to the $350 a vial then and the tier 1 copay when her endo changed her script. My suspicion is that in lieu of an assistance card to the public, Johnson & Johnson subsidized the pharmacy’s cost instead of ours.
| yes | 7,410 |
John Grint I would add the massive reorg of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the purpose of which was to open the NHS to more private provision. A lot of the Act has been reversed in some ways, but the reorg added costs at the same time funding was being squeezed.And to that you can add Brexit and the exodus of EU staff.I hope you are reconsidering loyalty to the Tories.
| no | 1,467 |
There is a potential upside to Santos returning to his assigned committees. When someone is summoned to testify, they can find ways to include references to Santos fables in their opening statement. And when the chair pounds the gavel, they can reply, " But Mr./Madame Chair, I'm quoting one of your esteemed committee members."
| no | 2,900 |
Krista Raising the debt limit does not increase the government's debt but rather refinances liabilities already owed. It pays debt and liabilities already incurred and owed [such as owed to vendors who already provided goods] with the proceeds from new debt such as T bonds.Example: The government owes a defense contractor $5M for uniforms it provided. Thus, the government now has $5M in debt. It issues a $5M T bond and uses the proceeds to pay the defense contractor the $5M it owed. The overall debt owed by the government hasn't change but has been 'refinanced.'
| yes | 5,558 |
Why does everything in our current culture have to be dissected to death? I LOVED this book. It was written thoughtfully and far better than so many contemporary novels that have no poetry in their sentence structure- they lie flat for me and I can’t make my way through them. I listened to the audio book at the same time - switching between the two mediums. It was beautifully read and held my attention throughout. I would have liked a little less of a pat ending - that was my only criticism- but it opened my eyes to a world I otherwise may never have found. I can’t imagine Ms. Cummins didn’t research this carefully. I can’t imagine enjoying this book would prohibit publishers from promoting others on similar subject matter. My God- with today’s AI practices, every time I read or watch anything I get recommendations for 10 others on the same subject. If anything it should point to more books on this topic. Why does one person’s success have to mean failure for another? Can’t we cheer them both? If “woke” is supposed to mean awakened to something- I was certainly awakened to a different experience from my own. Let’s stop using that term to define scrutinizing every aspect of life with a righteousness that defies logic or empathy or common sense. Some people just can’t be happy for others. Period.
| no | 3,869 |
Woody - that was indeed how Stalin maintained control of the USSR. He knew that soldiers placed in a geographical location, of a homogenous ethnic identity the same as the soldier, the soldier would not fire upon their brother and sisters, but if moved to a different location with prior resentments, they would gladly open fire. Tito did the same in Yugoslavia.
| no | 3,650 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.